Thursday, July 1, 2010

Vintage Love - The House of Hearts

This week's Vintage Love features Crystal of The House of Hearts.  Crystal has some great vintage finds in her shop and some very god tips about buying vintage. 


What do you love about vintage?
There are so many things that I love about vintage! I mostly love the fact that each piece has a history behind it, you may not know what the history is but it's fun to dream of what it could be. I also love that there is so much more love put into making each garment which is something that we lack now as a society today.
I always get excited when I find an item that has a union label sewn into. Although I know that most of the workers that were working in the sewing factories throughout Canada and the USA were foreign workers, it makes me feel better knowing that things were made in mass like today but workers were given better conditions to work in and fair wages.

What is the best item you have ever come across when you have been vintage/thrift shopping?
The best thing I have found to date is an original 1950's Black Junior Vogue Party Dress. I found it in a basement of a small local thrift shop and I got it for 25 cents!!! It is in mint condition and I have it in my closet as I'm not sure if I can part with it.

Do you have a style or method that you like to use when vintage/thrift shopping?
My method to thrifting is random. I know I should go first thing in the morning during the week but I end up going with my boyfriend either on weekends or evenings. I have a few certain shops that I know have great bags or shoes every time.  In Montreal, vintage is a big thing so I have to get out of the city to do most of my thrifting because things are pretty picked over in the city and even worse if you are by a university.

Is there one tip you could share that might help someone who is new to thrifting/vintage shopping?
One thing I can say to anyone turning to a life of thrifting is don't be afraid to get your hands a little dirty, maybe not literally but I usually find the gems when I am digging through bins of clothing and randomness.


Hand washing is the way to go with vintage items and if there are some stains, a soak in Oxi Clean can get almost anything out. I bought a wonderful cream 1970's hippie dress that had some gross sweat stains by the arms and a soak in Oxi Clean made it look just like new. You may have to put a little time into an item but it will be well worth it.

Thank you Crystal for participating in this week's Vintage Love.

Photos courtesy of Crystal, The House of Hearts.

Crystal can be found at:
Etsy shop
Blog
Twitter

2 comments:

CrystaL* said...

Thank you so much for the feature! It is always great to see my stuff on someone else's blog.

Hope you have a wonderful and festive weekend.

The Design Boards said...

Of course!! Thank you for participating.